


Snapshot Realities

by tonraq



Category: Bleach
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drabbles, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 21:31:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5471453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonraq/pseuds/tonraq
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of loosely-related drabbles, some slightly AU, covering such topics as the vizards, hollow Ichigo, and just what the characters might have been doing "off-screen" during the Arrancar/Hueco Mundo arc of the manga.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Ichigo, hollow Ichigo: Down with the Sickness

**Author's Note:**

> I began this in April 2008 and discontinued in December 2008. Drabbles range in rating from general to explicit. I will flag for each chapter; some chapters correspond to manga chapters that had just been published at the time, and I will attempt to make that clear as well.
> 
> This chapter is gen.

 

  _I'm not a disease_ , it hissed, the words slithering and rasping against his mind. _You can't cure yourself of me: I'm here to stay_.

"Like cancer," Ichigo muttered, and curled into a ball as laughter fell like tacks on a hardwood floor.


	2. Ulquiorra, Orihime: Points of Authority

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated gen. After manga arc 35: Higher than the Moon chapter 315.

"Before that, I just leave Las Noches to you for a while, Ulquiorra."

There was a splintering noise, and suddenly Ulquiorra was standing, surrounded by shards of reality.

"Yes sir," Ulquiorra said, and the portal slammed shut; Orihime was the only one left in the room with the espada. Her breath caught in her throat, as mixed feelings flooded her. Ulquiorra would never hurt her; he was under orders from Aizen - but no, that was over now; it had never been anything but a ploy within a ploy, and now Ulquiorra reigned over a Hueco Mundo where Orihime was the direct enemy.

She hoped he didn't see it that way.


	3. Zaraki, Yachiru, Nel: The Persistence of Memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gen. After Kenpachi's defeat of Nnoitra (manga 35: Higher Than The Moon chapter 315)

Ichigo was gone in a flash, hurtling towards the throne room. Zaraki Kenpachi rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

There was a sudden, despairing howl; Kenpachi whirled around, zanpakutou at the ready, but Yachiru had already hopped down from her perch on the giant slab of rock and was crouching beside the wailing, green-haired espada child.

"Sssh, sssh, it'll be okay!" Yachiru was saying, hand on the other little girl's shoulder, but all the consolation in the world would not have left a dent in Nel's mask.

"It won't be," she sobbed. "It'th...Nel tried, Nel tried, but it'th all gone wrong! And now I've lotht my thanpakutou, I've lotht my Gamutha! Thee'th lotht, and Itthigo'th lotht, and Nnoitra...Nnoitra..."

Yachiru kept patting the other girl's head, silent and solemn.

Kenpachi sheathed his zanpakutou, suddenly glad that his world began (and would probably end) with Yachiru. He didn't want - didn't need - to know anything else.


	4. Matsumoto, Nanao, Gin: Carefree

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rated gen. Set after manga arc 35: Higher than the Moon chapter 315.

Matsumoto had gone back to Sereitei. The captains could do their flashy show of power; fight to the death; kill and be killed in the real world, but she was having none of it.

Officially, she was in Sereitei to help Nanao with coordinating the remaining Vices - and, in some cases, third seats - in keeping Soul Society running as well as it could under the circumstances. She could not have thought of a better person to run Sereitei in Yamamoto's absence than Ise Nanao. She followed Nanao as the Eighth Division vice barked orders and knit her brow; the days that followed passed under extreme tension and worry. Soul Society seemed empty without the Captains; everyone was a little more grim, a little more on edge. Nanao frowned; Matsumoto grit her teeth and grinned. Smiling in the face of adversity was hard, but she managed it, and even welcomed it.

Unofficially, Matsumoto Rangiku was in Sereitei because she was avoiding an easy smile.


	5. Byakuya, Rukia, Hanatarou, Isane: Thicker than water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally published some time in 2008.

Byakuya stood, bleeding out from the wrist, from the legs, staining his clothing with a wet darkness.

"Nii-sama... your haori..."

Byakuya inclined his head curtly. "It is of no consequence. Come. We are to reconnoitre with Captains Unohana, Mayuri, and Zaraki; we will go from there."

"But Nii-sama," Rukia said, standing up with Isane's help, "You're injured; at least let Kotetsu-fukutaicho heal you before we leave."

"That will not be necessary," Byakuya said, but Rukia could see that his cheeks were pallid. He turned to go, and crumpled.

"Nii-sama!" Rukia cried; she found herself at his side, holding his shoulders as Isane delicately took Byakuya's wrist and began to heal the slashed veins and tendons. A similar glow of kidou at Byakuya's feet lit Hanatarou's face as he concentrated on the captain's leg wounds.

"Rukia, you yourself are not completely healed," Byakuya rebuked, weakly. "Surely -"

"Surely I can wait until you are no longer in danger of dying, Nii-sama," Rukia said fiercely. "I've had worse injuries and I've managed to survive. What use is it if I am completely healed only to have you die? I won't let that happen!"

Byakuya closed his mouth, still managing to look regally offended and disapproving while flat on his back. "Rukia..."

"I'll live, Nii-sama," Rukia insisted. "I am stronger than I look."

Her words fell between them, and Rukia suddenly realized the double meaning within them. Byakuya's eyes widened, and Rukia saw the hurt in them and wanted to stop, but she needed him to understand.

"I'm not Hisana-nee-san," Rukia said quietly. "I am a shinigami, and I am older than she was, and I am... I am stronger than she was. I think she would be proud of me. And I think she would want things to be this way; she would not want you to die, when I could prevent it."

"Aa." Byakuya turned his head to the side, gazing out over Hueco Mundo. Rukia sat, and the dismissal was like a blow to the cheek. She sat in silence, holding back tears, as Isane and Hanatarou continued their healing; the bleeding had stopped and the bruising was fading.

Presently, the two healers had finished, and Byakuya stood up.

"Rukia." She rose and stood beside him, unsure. He spoke while staring haughtily forward, into the middle distance, but his words were for her. "You are not your sister. And so I do not hold you up against the example of your sister, as you both chose very different paths to take. I understand."

Byakuya turned to look down at her. "I understand, Rukia-nee. You fought an Espada and won; you do not have to prove yourself."

Rukia nodded wordlessly, and then stepped forward to hug Byakuya fiercely. The Captain of the Sixth Division made an involuntary flailing gesture, but then, slowly, brought his arms around to embrace his sister.


	6. Rukia, hollow Ichigo: Cheval, chevalerie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally published some time in 2008.

Rukia dreamt of horses; a whole herd of wild pintos, galloping across the plains of Soul Society, and her subconscious didn't bother to remind her that horses don't have afterlives, never mind in a Japanese afterlife. Each horse in the herd was a different colour, and they ran past her, so close she could have touched them, and Rukia delighted in the delicious feel of rushing wind and the sound of pounding hooves running through her veins.

After the herd had passed in a whirlwind, a lone, white horse came galloping towards her, following the others but - she knew in the dream, automatically - not one of them. It slowed as it came nearer; she fancied it recognized her.

She held out her hand; the horse approached at a walk, unafraid, and it was only when it was several feet away that Rukia realized how big it was. It towered over her with each deliberate step it took towards her, and she began to feel uneasy, menaced. Its eyes were golden.

Rukia withdrew her hand and stepped back; the backdrop of Soul Society was fading like a chalk picture in the rain, replaced with blue sky and sideways buildings, and the horse-that-was-not-a-horse was smiling cruelly down at her with Ichigo's face.

Rukia lay awake for several hours after that, counting Chappys and thinking.


	7. Kon: The greater part of valour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally published some time in 2008.

Maybe Kon isn't the smartest modsoul out there. Maybe he isn't the most brave, or the most loyal, or even the most skilled fighter; it isn't like he can help it, they created him that way! So what if he's only pretty good at some things, and kinda terrible at others? Maybe there are other things that matter, and maybe, if he tries, he can be very good at some smaller, humbler things.

And so it is that Kon doesn't say a word when Yuzu whispers _Bostafu_ , and hugs him closer in her sleep.


	8. Zabimaru, Renji: A Change in Management

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally published some time in 2008.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is an AU moment inspired by some lovely fanart by Aido. I have long lost the link to it, so if there are any readers who can help a fellow fan out, please let me know. I'd love to give credit.

"Who are you, stranger?" The stentorian challenge rang through the empty streets and deserted huts.

"Yeah, punk, what the fuck are you doing here?" A hissing snigger followed on its heels, and the figure in the middle of the road grinned, the perpetual moonlight glancing off of dead-white hair.

"I'm here to take over," it said, and all of a sudden, Zabimaru was flat on its back in the dust, a hand at the baboon's throat as the snake struggled to extract its head from the crushing weight of a pale foot. The figure grinned, exposing sharp canines, as the sword spirit struggled, and then began to dissolve.

"That'ss right," it hissed, its voice garbled. "We're gonna do the thingss he'ss only ever dreamed of!"

The sword was now completely gone, and the blanched figure stood in the middle of the street, staring at the moon. There were no stars. The figure raised its hand, until its open hand framed the moon, cradled it and rolled it around the palm of its hand. There was much to do. Oh yes, there was much to do.

_In the real world, Renji choked and spat as blood filled his lungs; Zabimaru fell, nothing more than a broken handle, at his side._


	9. Ulquiorra, Orihime: Alike Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted some time in 2008.

"Eat," he said, emotionless, commanding.

She shook her head. This was the one act of defiance, the one way she could still remain herself, the one way she could say no, no, no, without the destruction of her friends, and Inoue Orihime was nothing if not true to herself. Her stomach growled, loudly.

"Eat," he said, emotionless, insisting.

And this Espada in front of her, who wore a mask of sorrow yet felt nothing, who was he to understand this? A command was a command was a command. As the days went by, she found herself peculiarly affected by his blankness, so like the white, unending walls of her prison. She could not...feel - although that may have been her growing weakness.

"Eat," he said, emotionless, pleading.

She could not be angry at him, just following orders. She could not be scared of the others, following Aizen's orders. She could not cry for her friends, who faded into memory more with each passing day.

"Eat," he said, emotionless, meaningless.

She choked as the food went down her throat; tried to cough it up even though it was like water to a woman in the desert. Her stomach cried out, and eventually won: she ate and, in that moment, looked up to meet his eyes, emotionless.


	10. Ichigo, Ulquiorra: Worth it

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted some time in 2008.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was written before the actual Ichigo vs Ulquiorra showdown in Hueco Mundo in the manga, and so contains a snapshot of what I'd speculated might transpire.

"And did you not expect this, Kurosaki Ichigo?"

Blades rang together, the sound echoing against the white walls of the throne room, and the question would have been a taunt if the Espada uttering it had injected a shred of emotion into his words.

Ichigo didn't answer, didn't pause to blink as he caught the orange of Inoue's hair out of the corner of his eyes. The Espada started to form a cero; Ichigo dodged and appeared behind him, zanpakutou already descending.

"Is that what makes you so angry? That we fooled you into coming here, leaving your family unprotected?" Ulquiorra moved easily away from the downstroke, and Ichigo pelted after him.

"Or perhaps" - Ichigo was forced to leap out of the way of a surprise backswing - "perhaps it has to do with the fact that Orihime Inoue now means absolutely nothing...and never did."

Ichigo faltered; Ulquiorra drove his blade through the boy's side and stepped back, almost casually.

"How pathetic," the Espada observed, "to find that the jewel you fought and bled for is but a piece of cheap glass."

Ichigo looked up, his mask halved, panting, a half-smile on his face as he shook his head. "You don't get it, do you?" He wiped blood from his face and stood up straight, holding Ulquiorra's gaze. "So she may mean nothing in the grand scheme of things...but we didn't come here with that in mind. I came; Rukia came, Renji, Chad, and Ishida came, because she is our friend. And she matters to us."

Ichigo met the blow as it came arcing down towards his head, and smiled, really smiled, at Ulquiorra over the crossed blades. "You probably can't understand it. I don't think Aizen created you to have nakama, or to think any other way." They broke apart and clashed again, sparks showering from the grating steel.

"But for us, Inoue is special. We would have come if it was any one of us who was taken. She will always matter to us, because we matter to her," Ichigo said firmly, "For someone you care about - no distance is too far, and no fight is too dangerous, because when you find that person again, it makes it all worth it."

Ulquiorra's brows lifted a fraction. Far below, Orihime's orange hair glinted in the light of the moon which spilled from the high windows of the throne room, the only spot of colour in an otherwise drab and boring place. She was the only being which did not conform to the rules which governed Hueco Mundo, who did not live the kill-or-be-killed existence of Arrancar, who did not fall under Aizen's jurisdiction, loyalty out of fear. Worth it? Ulquiorra had come out of the caja negacion, seemingly called forth by Aizen's voice, but the first person he had seen - the only person he had seen - had been Orihime. _Worth it_. The words rang through his mind.

"Perhaps," he allowed.


	11. Aizen, Orihime: Good Intentions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written some time in 2008.

"You will no doubt be surprised to hear it, but I am not an evil man," Aizen said mildly, and blew the steam gently across the surface of his cup of tea.

Orihime, sitting across from him at the small table, said nothing, choosing instead to look steadfastly at her own cup of tea in front of her.

"Drink," Aizen encouraged, "it's a little cold in here, and the tea will do you good. Ulquiorra tells me your appetite has been off as of late, and I don't want you to get sick."

Orihime still sat, staring at the tea. The ceiling, so far above, was just a muddy white reflection on the surface of the liquid; they were alone in the room, and Aizen was right in that it was so cold, cold.

"Come, Orihime. I know you must think me a monster, because of my actions against your friends." Aizen sipped his tea, then returned the cup to the saucer with a clink. "It's okay to admit it; I would feel the same way were I in your position. But, in that hypothetical situation, I would also hear me out - so to speak."

The lord of Hueco Mundo leaned back in his chair as an Arrancar came in with steamed buns, and waited until it had exited the room before going on.

"You see, Orihime, what I want to tell you is that I mean you and your friends no harm in my quest."

Orihime whispered something to the tea, and Aizen paused in his reach for a bun. "Pardon?"

"I said, you nearly killed Kuchiki-san. You set her up to be executed, and when that didn't work, you put your hand through her." Orihime said, directing quiet vehemence at the saucer in front of her. "How can you say you mean us no harm?"

"Ah, my dear, no one is more sorry about that turn of events than I." Aizen put the bun on his plate and looked at Orihime quite seriously, almost in earnest. "You see, when I found that Kuchiki Rukia had the Hougyoku in her, I sent the order for her return to Soul Society immediately. Not for her to be executed, you understand, but to attempt to extract the Hougyoku from her while she was incarcerated."

Orihime said nothing, but the silence was heavy with timid disbelief.

"There was still time, you see, for the Hougyoku to be taken out of her soul without any damage to Kuchiki-san, but I was too late. The interference, however, of Urahara Kisuke made it impossible for this to happen: he thwarted me until he knew that the Hougyoku would be fully absorbed into Kuchiki-san's soul, thus making it impossible to extract without severe damage to Kuchiki-san."

"Why are you telling me this?" Orihime asked the buns, and her stomach growled a bit.

"I'm just trying to let you know that I bear neither you nor the rest of your nakama any ill will," Aizen said amiably. "Do have some tea."

"Aizen-san," Orihime said, and it was a query.

"Yes?"

"May I be excused?"

"Certainly," Aizen snapped his fingers; Ulquiorra appeared at his elbow. "Escort Inoue-chan to her quarters. And bring some buns with her for later."

Ulquiorra complied; they were at the door when Orihime stopped and turned. "Aizen-san?"

"Yes, my dear?"

"I am not Hinamori-san," her eyes met his, briefly.

Aizen gave an easy smile. "Of course not."

The two exited the room and Aizen raised his tea to his lips. "Not yet, anyway," he murmured, and drank the rest of the cup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I always wanted more of Orihime during her imprisonment in Hueco Mundo. I am of the opinion that she braved some of the most dire situations of all.


	12. Shinji: A River in Egypt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written some time in 2008.

Sometimes, Hirako listens to it. Usually when he's in a bad mood, or depressed, or reminded of what could have been if not for - but then the words come, ugly and hateful, and he cannot block them out.

He'd mastered his hollow long ago; nightmares of blowing sands and ancient words sometimes flood through his brain like a river breaking its banks. There is no laughter, there is no defiance, there are no insults. Just an inexorable march of words, words, words, stentorian and unwavering in their constant hatred, their absolute certainty. The darkness rises, and Hirako knows only too well the feeling of being submerged, of losing his footing, of nearly abandoning himself to the terrible, frigid current.

Hirako himself is confident, a man of easy power and dangerous volition, of carefree camaraderie and questionable alliance. He knows that Hiyori and the others are in awe of his control, secretly proud of his power. They don't know how close the words sometimes come to knocking down the walls and bursting the chains, how fast they can erode the walls, how bit by bit his control can crumble under the onslaught of those terrible, awe-ful words.

The worst thing, however, is the fact that, in the primordial river of his own mind, the only monster lurking within the murky depths is himself.


End file.
